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Raspberry Tarts with Cream

Find inspiration for your next baking project from Ontario’s past. Try these raspberry tarts with cream from The Cook Not Mad cookbook, published in 1831. The recipe is listed as No. 68 in the publication.

For convenience, we’ve adapted the recipe ingredients and measurements to suit the modern day. Changes include using store-bought puff pastry and thickening the suggested cream filling to the consistency of a modern-day crème anglaise (custard) sauce. If you’d like to try the original recipe as written, scroll down below for the actual recipe.

Ingredients

Yield: six tarts

  • 2 450-gram packages of puff pastry
  • 3 packages (18 ounces) of raspberries
  • 1½ tablespoons of sugar (for the berries)
  • 6 tablespoons of sugar (for the cream filling)
  • 2 cups of 35% cream
  • 6 egg yolks

Special equipment or tools

  • Non-stick jumbo muffin tin

Method

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C)

Prepare raspberry tarts

Roll out the puff pastry and cut out six circles large enough to cover the bottoms and sides of the muffin cups. Use the remainder of the puff pastry to cut another six circles for the tops of the tarts. Set the prepared muffin tins in the fridge or somewhere cool to keep the pastry cold.

Place the raspberries in a bowl and sprinkle 1½ tablespoons of sugar over them.

To assemble the tarts, place the raspberries into the prepared muffin tins and cover the tops with the crust. Trim and press the crusts together. Score a small circle about the size of a nickel in the tops of the pastry.

Bake the tarts for 20 minutes or until the puff pastry is golden and crisp.

While the tarts are baking, prepare the cream filling.

Make cream filling

In a large bowl, add 6 egg yolks and 6 tablespoons of sugar. Mix until well combined.

Pour the cream into a heavy-bottomed pan and bring to a light simmer while stirring constantly. Bring to 170°F (77°C) or until warmed through. Remove from the heat and let the cream cool slightly.

Very slowly, ladle the warm cream into the egg mixture to prevent the eggs from curdling. Allow a slow stream of cream to fall while whisking constantly. Continue this process until all the cream has been incorporated into the egg mixture. Return the egg and cream mixture to the pan. Place on low heat while stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 177°F (80°C) or has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. It is important to heat the mixture slowly as it can scramble easily. Remove the pan from the heat and strain the mixture into a separate bowl. Place into a small pitcher or measuring cup with a spout for easy pouring.

Final assembly

Remove the tarts from the oven when the puff pastry looks golden and crisp. Allow the tarts to cool before removing the scored centres. Pour half of the prepared cream filling into the tarts and reserve the rest. Place the tarts back in the oven and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes.

Allow the tarts to cool completely before removing from the tin. Top with more cream as you’d like.

Enjoy!

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Do you have your own copy of The Cook Not Mad? You can make the original recipe and adapt to your taste.

Nineteenth-century cookbooks like this one can be challenging for contemporary readers. Many recipes (also called receipts at the time) had brief instructions and little to no information on oven temperatures.

Read the original recipes from The Cook Not Mad:

Recipe No. 68 Raspberry Tarts with Cream

Roll out some thin puff paste and lay it in a pan of what size you choose; put in raspberries, strew over them fine sugar, cover with a thin lid, then bake, cut it open and have ready the following mixture: warm half a pint of cream, the yelks [yolks] of two or three eggs well beaten and a little sugar, and when this mixture is added to the tarts return the whole to the oven for five or six minutes.

Recipe No.105 Puff Paste for Tarts

In the following whole or part of the eggs may be dispensed with. Rub one pound of butter into two pounds of flour, whip two whites and add with cold water, make it into paste, roll in six or seven times one pound of butter, flouring it each roll. This is good for any small thing.